Yet Another Movie Sequel: Sherlock Holmes 2

Yes please.

Well, as long as we’re talking about movie sequels, the movie sequel news of the week is, of course, Sherlock Holmes 2. Besides Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, who made the first movie extremely good-looking, there are a host of other actors getting tacked on to the project, suggesting that this could be the go-to Christmas movie blockbuster of Aught-Eleven (I guess it’s not really aught-anything, but it sounds nice), with the release date set as December 16, 2011. And of course, Robert Downey Jr. is always fun to look at.

Oh, look at the time! I need to go do British things!

But besides the dynamic duo themselves, many new actors are being added to reprise multiple pivotal parts. The role of Sherlock’s brother Mycroft (what was with the silly names? Was Arthur Conan Doyle irritated that everyone kept using his ludicrous middle name, or what?) is to be played by Stephen Fry, whose many hilarious and wonderful performances (the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, the narrator in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and Dietrich in V for Vendetta) suggest that he will play the role of Holmes’ older, smarter, lazier brother to perfection. Noomi Rapace, the actress who played the main character in the Swedish version of the recent hit The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, has been confirmed as the female lead in Sherlock Numero Dos. What exactly her role will be (romantic interest? Femme fatale? Hardnose cop? Naïve protagonist?) is unclear, as is the future of the female lead in Sherlock Holmes, played by Rachel McAdams. Although it has been confirmed that she will indeed reprise her role of the romantic interest ensnared by the evil Professor Moriarty, her role is apparently to be smaller, but exactly how much smaller is unclear.

 And speaking of the iconic Sherlock bad guy, despite the rumors that he would be played by Brad Pitt (which would be awesome, but rather silly), the role has been given to a relative newcomer, Jared Harris, who appeared in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but is best known for his role on the hit TV show Mad Men. This came as a bit of a disappointment to the people who paid attention to the many possible actors rumored to be wanted for the spot, including Daniel Day-Lewis as well as Brad Pitt. This casting decision is obviously the most potentially problematic, because a Sherlock Holmes movie with a sub-par Moriarty would be just . . . just the worst.

"Wait, I DIE?!" "How confusing."

But besides the multiple excellent actors signing up to play interesting parts, the real question is how exactly the plot will play out. It’s unclear whether the movie will attempt to use any actual Sherlock Holmes book plots, since the first movie certainly didn't. However, if it were to do so, the only possible plot with both Mycroft and Moriarty would be, of course, The Final Problem, in which (SPOILER ALERT) Holmes dies. And of course, killing off the main character would effectively end the franchise. A more interesting problem would be the shift in tone. The first movie, although with some darker sets, was essentially a rather upbeat buddy cop movie, but a movie version of The Final Problem would presumably be much darker. More probably, they’ll do another non-Arthur Conan Doyle plot, and continue to make movies. However, there seems to be the suggestion of a series of movies, getting progressively darker, and perhaps with Moriarty becoming more and more involved, even . . . beating Holmes once? Which would then inevitably lead to The Final Problem. Personally, I would love to see a Sherlock Holmes 2 movie with a toe-to-toe showdown against Moriarty where Moriarty wins, Empire Strikes Back-style, and then Sherlock Holmes 3: The Final Problem being released Christmas 2013.

I would talk about the potential titles, except that it’ll probably just be called Sherlock Holmes 2. Ugh. Maybe Sherlock Holmes 2: The Equation? Probably a colon followed by something mathematical or deductive sounding.

Death and Glory,

Joseph